


i'll leave this life behind me (say it if it's worth savin' me)

by spiritsontheroof



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Getting Back Together, Jack Dalton Loves Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Saves Mac, M/M, Mac Joins Codex, Protective Jack Dalton (MacGyver 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritsontheroof/pseuds/spiritsontheroof
Summary: Jack looks at Desi’s face, at Bozer’s, then he looks at the screen.Mac’s picture is there.Angus J. MacGyver, 03/23/1990, defected.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Desiree "Desi" Nguyen, Jack Dalton/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 93





	i'll leave this life behind me (say it if it's worth savin' me)

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, I really miss Jack and I was thinking about what it would be like if Jack came back to save our boy, so I wrote this.  
> Come find me on tumblr @spiritsontheroof, I take requests!  
> title is savin' me by nickleback

It never occurs to Jack during all those months in the jungle that the Phoenix would go up in flames while he was gone. 

He'd been so sure they'd survive without him. But now, standing in the war room, seeing the look on Matty’s face, Jack knows things have really gone to hell. 

Jack looks at Desi’s face, at Bozer’s, then he looks at the screen. 

Mac’s picture is there. 

_Angus J. MacGyver, 03/23/1990, defected._

_Defected?_

Jack’s teeth grind because he can tell just by the way Matty is looking at him that Mac isn’t just on an undercover op. 

Mac’s gone rogue. 

“What the hell happened?” Jack finally says, voice strained, heart pounding so hard he’s sure everyone else in the room can hear it. 

Matty starts to tell him, but Desi cuts her off. 

“Come on, I’ll catch you up.” Desi says and leads Jack outside. 

Desi tells him all about Mac’s dad, about crazy aunt Gwen and Codex, about Lasky, about everything. 

“And now he’s gone,” Desi finishes, voice teetering on the last word, “I’m sorry. I know I was supposed to protect him.” Desi says and Jack has never heard her apologize, has definitely never seen her on the verge of tears, so Jack shakes his head and pulls her into his arms. 

“Hey, it’s okay. No one knows better than me that Mac isn’t always the easiest guy to keep safe. You did what you could. Don’t apologize.” Jack assures her and Desi nods, pulling away to wipe her tears. 

“You gonna help us get him back?” Desi asks, nodding her head toward the war room. 

“That’s my boy out there. Of course I am.” Jack says and follows her back in. 

\-- 

Jack is kind of pissed that Mac dragged RIley into his shit, but he’ll get over it. Right now, he just wants to save them both. 

Jack is introduced to Russ, who seems to be as broken up about Mac and Riley as everyone else, so he’s okay in Jack’s book. For now. 

Matty outlines the plan for him. Extraction, Jack will go in for Mac and Desi for Riley, each with a tac team behind them. 

“They’re suspects. Do you understand? We treat them as such.” Matty tells them and waits for them both to nod before nodding herself. “Good. Now, Mac isn’t going to go quietly, you know that, so be careful. Don’t let him get the drop on you.” 

Jack nods. Mac’s a stubborn son of a bitch, always has been, so Jack is ready to deal with him. 

They take another week to gather intel and plan, and then it’s time. Jack is strapped to the teeth with weapons and tac gear, and so is Desi. 

They get across the perimeter with no incident. Now, once they get inside? That’s a _whole different ordeal._

Jack doesn’t think he’s been shot at this much since Afghanistan and honestly, it’s getting pretty annoying. He’s in the middle of choking one of the Codex guys out when he sees a lanky frame and a flash of blonde hair run by. 

_Mac._

Jack drops what he’s doing and takes off after him. He’s vaguely aware of Desi telling them the package is secure, they’re safe and headed to exfil, but Jack is too busy chasing Mac to respond. 

“Mac!” Jack calls but Mac just keeps running, barely spares a backward glance. “Mac, come on, man.” Jack tries again but still, nothing. Finally, Jack shoots a bullet at Mac’s feet, stopping Mac in shock. “Angus MacGyver, put your hands in the air!” Jack yells, gun pointed as Mac turns to face him. 

“Mission changed you, huh? You gonna shoot me?” Mac sneered and Jack clenched his jaw. 

“Don’t tempt me, smartass.” Jack grits as he gets closer, holstering his gun and going for Mac’s front pocket. “I’ll take that,” Jack smirks as he pulls out a red swiss army knife. 

“Do it. I’m not coming back to the Phoenix and I’m definitely not telling you anything about Codex, so you might as well.” Mac says as Jack pats him down, wanting a reaction Jack isn’t giving. 

“Shut up, how about that? I haven’t seen you in years and I’m already sick of listening to you talk.” Jack says as he empties Mac’s pockets. 

Mac flinches and Jack almost feels bad, but then he remembers Mac is a suspect, a _terrorist_ , and the feeling dissipates. 

Jack puts him in this fancy little device that locks Mac’s hands completely, a necessary development for their little handyman. 

“Wow, fancy cuffs. Phoenix R&D really kicked it up with this.” Mac says bitterly and Jack grabs him by the arm, pushing him along. 

“Package is secure, I’ve got MacGyver. Headed for exfil now.” Jack says, grip on Mac’s bicep firm. 

“I can’t believe you’re treating me like a suspect. After all we’ve been through together,” Mac drops his voice to a whisper, “after that last night we spent together.” 

Jack flinches and doesn’t respond, just pushes him into the back of a tac vehicle and climbs in behind him. He can’t believe Mac would use that night against him, can’t believe Mac’s changed so much. He’s nothing like he was when Jack knew him. He’s all hard looks and clouds in his eyes, snarky remarks and mean comments. If he wasn’t so damned in love with the kid, he might punch him in the mouth. 

Mac keeps rambling all the way back to the Phoenix, just trying to get under Jack’s skin. It works but Jack would never let him know, would never give Mac the satisfaction. 

\-- 

Jack throws Mac into an interrogation room, ignore Matty when she asks if he’s okay. He’s already down the hall, in the room Riley’s in and closing the door. 

“What the hell is going on?” Jack demands. 

“Jack? What are you –” Riley starts and Jack cuts her off. 

“Listen to me. You had better tell me what is going on and you better tell me now, Riley.” Jack says, leaning against the table and looking at her seriously. 

Riley looks around and sighs. “Mac’s gone darkside. He got all screwed up after he found out about his aunt and about how his mom wanted to kill part of the population to save the world.” She says, voice lowering. “I thought we were just undercover, that this was apart of Mac’s whole ‘save the world’ thing, but he’s _really_ serious about Codex.” 

Jack sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Why did you go in with him?” 

“So he had someone to look after him. I had a skill set that was valuable to them, so I convinced them to let me join.” Riley explains. “ _Please_ , Jack. You gotta believe me. I’m sorry.” She begs, bottom lip wobbling. 

Jack looks at her for a minute and he knows that look. Riley’s scared, for Mac and for everyone else, so Jack nods. “I believe you, honey.” Jack tells her and he hears the door open behind him, Russ poking his head in. 

“Angus would like to speak with you.” Russ says gingerly, voice low. Jack looks at him with furrowed brows and Russ shrugs, saying _‘I don’t know why. He won’t say.’_

Jack nods and walks out, back to the room he’d thrown Mac in a short while ago. 

“What do you want?” Jack demands, refusing to engage in any kind of friendly way. 

“What, I can’t just want to catch up with an old friend?” Mac says, like nothing between them has changed. 

“No, you can’t.” Jack says, sitting down across from him. “Because you went rogue. You joined a terrorist group. You put Riley in danger. You and I are decidedly _no_ _t_ friends.” 

Mac smiles at him and Jack hates it. It is nothing like it used to be, bright and gorgeous, all teeth and light. Now, it’s barely a smirk, dark, makes Mac look like he wants to sink his teeth into Jack and tear him apart. 

“Come on, you don’t mean that. You know you missed me.” Mac teases, leaning forward. 

“I missed _you_. This isn’t you.” Jack argues, leaning away, all the way back in the chair. 

Mac doesn’t say anything, just looks away and clenches his jaw. Jack can see him practically itching to get his hands free. 

“You think I believe this? Come on, Mac. I may not be a genius, but I’m an expert in all things Angus MacGyver.” Jack says, reaching into his pocket for Mac’s knife and a paperclip he’d pulled off him earlier and laying them on the table. 

“Tell you what. You tell me what I wanna know, I’ll uncuff you. I know you’re itching to fidget, Mac. Never were good with being bound.” Jack says, twirling the knife in his hands. 

Mac stares for a minute and then nods. 

“Good boy,” Jack commends, “Now. Why did you join Codex?” 

“Because I want to save the planet. Once my dad died, I was free to choose the path of science and logic. So I did.” 

“Alright,” Jack nods, watching Mac for a minute. Bouncing leg, looking away, biting his lip. “You’re lying.” 

Mac looks up and scoffs. “No, I’m not.” He says defensively and Jack stands up, turning his back to Mac. _You’re i_ _n his head now,_ _Dalton. Make him talk._ _“_ You are. You’re a horrible liar, Mac, and you definitely can’t lie to me.” 

Mac grits his teeth. “You think you know me?” 

“I know I do.” Jack retorts and Mac jerks his hands where they’re locked to the table. 

“You don’t know a damn thing about me! You left!” Mac yells and Jack has to force himself still to keep from flinching. 

“Easy there, boy wonder.” Jack says, tries to keep his voice even. “I left because I had to. Figured you were a big boy, you can handle it. Clearly not.” Jack says, raising his eyebrows. 

“I handled it fine,” Mac says shortly. 

“Tell me why you joined Codex,” Jack demands and Mac ignores him 

Jack slams his hands on the table and Mac flinches. “Tell me, MacGyver!” Jack yells. 

“Because I didn’t know what else to do!” Mac says back, voice trembling even at the loud volume. 

Jack doesn’t know what do to with that. “You should have stayed with the Phoenix.” 

Mac shakes his head. “You don’t understand. I couldn’t stop Codex from here. I had to get inside and stop them.” 

“Then you should have gone undercover, the right way. Not just run off without a word.” Jack says, unwilling to believe Mac so easily after the way he had acted when Jack found him. 

“I couldn’t, Codex would have known. I had to defect.” Mac explains, pleading with Jack to believe him. 

“Listen, I know I said some fucked up stuff when you arrested me. I’m sorry. But I swear to you, everything I did was so that I could stop Codex.” Mac says, eyes wide and watery. 

Jack nods and unlocks the fancy hand lock device. “You stay here. I promise, if you break out of this room. I _will_ kick your ass.” Jack says, grabbing the knife off the table. 

“I won’t move. Swear on the Wookie life debt.” 

Jack slides him the paperclip and walks out, putting three tac guys at the door in case Mac is lying. 

\-- 

Turns out, Mac was telling the truth. He rolled on Codex, told everything he knew. Riley got them into their database and Mac got them into the building. They got crazy aunt Gwen as Jack liked to call her, despite Mac’s protests. 

(And if Jack’s honest, the mission only went so well because Mac did what he did. But Jack refuses to admit that, refuses to encourage Mac’s recklessness, so he takes all the credit, even though Mac sees through it.) 

“I wanna talk to her,” Mac says when they get back to the Phoenix, storming the interrogation rooms. 

“Whoa, there, brother.” Jack says, catching Mac with an arm across his chest as he walks by. “You’re not going anywhere near that. Matty and Taylor are handling it.” 

“No, Jack, I have to –” Mac tries to argue, but Jack shoves him back gently. 

“No, Mac, you’re done. I’m taking you home.” 

Mac wants to argue but he knows better, knows Jack isn’t going to give in, so he just nods dejectedly and goes outside. 

Jack hugs Riley, makes Bozer promise to keep an eye on her, and follows Mac out the door. 

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride.” Jack says, unlocking the car. Mac doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t say anything on the ride home, either. Jack knows he’s upset, knows he feels bad about betraying his friends and about not being able to stop Codex on his own. 

Jack pulls into the driveway and puts it in park. Mac doesn’t move, doesn’t look up from the paperclip he’s bent beyond recognition. Jack doesn’t press, just sits with him in silence until make is ready to talk or leave or whatever he wants to do. 

It takes ten minutes, and even then, Mac doesn’t say anything. Instead, he launches himself across the bench seat in Jack’s car, grabbing Jack by his shirt and pulling him into a kiss. Jack make a surprised sound, hands hovering between him and Mac before he lays them on Mac’s chest and pushing him back gently. 

“What are you doing, Mac?” Jack breathes into the space between them, because as much as he’d like to keep kissing Mac, there’s a lot to be talked about before they go picking up where they left off. 

“I... oh. This... you don’t... oh.” Mac shakes his head and tries to pull away, face crumpling into that sad little thing it becomes when Mac is trying not to cry. 

“Hey, hey.” Jack says, cupping Mac’s face in his hands. “I do. I want this. I always want this. But we probably should talk about some things first, yeah?” 

Mac looks into his eyes and then nods. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” He agrees and smiles shyly. “Wanna come in? Have a beer?” 

Jack smiles back. “I’d love to, darlin’.” 

\-- 

They don’t actually do much talking, as it would happen. The beers go forgotten because _Jesus Christ_ , Mac’s lips have no business being that soft, he has no business being so beautiful, and Jack missed him too much not to kiss him. 

Somehow they end up in bed, for several hours (in several positions) until they’re both boneless, laying on the bed tangled up together, trading lazy kisses and sweet nothings. 

“I’m sorry for what I said. And for making you think I’d gone darkside.” Mac says sometime after midnight, tracing his fingers over Jack’s chest. 

“It’s alright. I get why you did it. Just... don’t scare me like that again.” Jack runs his fingers through Mac’s hair. 

“I won’t. I promise.” Mac says and then he sits up slightly, propping himself on one elbow. “Thank you, for coming to save me.” 

Jack smiles, cups Mac’s cheek and brushes a thumb over Mac’s cheekbone. “I told you before, I’d chase you around the world if I had to.” 

Mac leans into the touch and sighs. “I love you,” he whispers. 

Jack leans up to kiss him again. “I love you, Mac.” 

Jack goes to bed that night and sleeps without interruption for the first night since he’s been home. 


End file.
